617. Rainbow / Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow. 1975. 4/5

The realisation of what eventually became the band named Rainbow had its germination in a song called “Black Sheep of the Family” by a band called Quatermass, from their only album of the same name in 1970. This band had contained a drummer by the name of Mick Underwood, who had once shared the stage in a band called The Outlaws with Ritchie Blackmore. By 1974, Quatermass had been disbanded for three years, and Blackmore was plying his trade in the Mark III version of Deep Purple, and currently in the middle of writing sessions for their next album “Stormbringer”. The hiring of lead vocalist David Coverdale and bass guitarist Glenn Hughes had brought some new ideas and a changing direction to the band, something Blackmore was openly critical of at times. It was during this time that Blackmore suggested that the band cover as song that he had found enjoyable, called “Black Sheep of the Family” by Quatermass. Apparently, he pushed hard to have this included on the next album, but he had his request denied by the rest of the band. This stuck in Blackmore’s craw. On the tour to promote that album, Deep Purple once again had the band Elf as their support act, who had as their lead singer a rather unknown person called Ronnie James Dio. Blackmore was later quoted as saying that when he listened to Dio sing, he felt shivers down his spine. Blackmore still carried a desire to record his own interpretation of “Black Sheep of the Family”, and he decided to record it as a solo single. And what better talents to utilise on this particular recording than the voice of Ronnie Dio! Elf drummer Gary Driscoll was also drafted in, while other musicians who were mentioned as being involved in these sessions included Matthew Fisher on keyboards and Hugh McDowell from ELO who at the time was apparently giving Blackmore cello lessons. On Thursday, 12th December 1974, in a studio in Tampa Bay, Florida, Blackmore, Dio and Driscoll recorded two tracks: “Black Sheep of the Family” and also a newly written song for the B-side of the single called “Sixteenth Century Greensleeves”, that Blackmore had just completed and Dio had added lyrics to two days earlier.

These sessions went so well, that Blackmore decided that he wanted to flesh out this single and carry on to create a whole album. To do this, he not only retained Dio and Driscoll, but also asked Elf’s bass guitarist Craig Gruber and keyboardist Mickey Lee Soule to come on board for the recording. Elf guitarist Steve Edwards was, unfortunately for him, surplus to requirements. Blackmore and Dio had already been collaborating on songs before they reached the Musicland Studio in Munich in February 1975 for three weeks of recording, with the help of Deep Purple’s then producer Martin Birch. When the album was completed, and given the chemistry that had come together between he and Dio, Blackmore decided to resign from Deep Purple, playing his last show with the band in Paris in April 1975, with his departure officially announced on June 21, 1975. Less than two months later, the debut album from his new band was released, and album that bore his name in the same way as the band bore his name, “Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow”.

Listening to the album anytime beyond the point that the band dissolved when Blackmore returned to the reformed Mark II lineup of Deep Purple in 1983, there is an obvious and thoughtful progression in the music of the first three albums of the band, and then regression from the point Dio leaves as Ritchie chased his commercial success dream. And what is most obvious about this first album is that it is the stepping stones that led from the merged history of the band previous to this album, the Purple and Elf styles of music, to what became the first true marked stamp of the sound of Rainbow. In any conversation on the band’s first three albums, there will be a discussion on the quality of ALL of the tracks as written and performed, and how some of them feel so much more advanced and generally brilliant than some others that appear to be slightly generic and average. This all comes in the eye of the beholder, or in this case the ear of the... beholder. Certainly on this debut album, with four fifths of Elf being present in the recording if not the writing process, the sound of that band does creep in more often here than it would going forward, when only one of them would survive the ‘great purging’ of... five minutes after this album was completed.
This album was the start of a lot of things that proved to be the betterment of the heavy music genre. Firstly, it was the revitalisation of Blackmore's career, kickstarting his enthusiasm and disposing of his stagnancy, which not only went on to produce a magnificent Rainbow discography, but eventually provided the impetus for the second coming of the band that he had just quit. Secondly, it was the real beginning, after almost twenty years in the industry, of the defining years of one of the greatest ever vocalists, Ronnie James Dio. With Blackmore's influence, Dio finally found his niche and began to write and perform the songs that he was meant to produce. And finally, a band emerged, in the main because of Blackmore and Dio, that went on to influence generations of musicians who came after them, and the music that they subsequently created.
All that being said, this isn't the perfect album, caught as it is somewhere between the old and the new. There are several songs that seem to predict a future direction, of Blackmore’s eventual transformation into a folk-rock mandolin hero, playing songs of a medieval age with jesters and kings and jousting. “The Temple of the King” fits this description perfectly, settling into the Blackmore/Dio fantasy realm easily, but also in the acoustically and keys-based theme musically. The music is beautiful if not power and a guitar-based extravaganza as one may have expected. But my word Ronnie James Dio’s voice soars through this entire song. It is the second of the great slow melodic songs on this album, with Blackmore experimenting with strings throughout the song, and Dio's vocals driving it along in sheer beauty. Even in quieter songs, the power of Dio's voice is remarkable. This song gives Dio an opportunity to truly test and showcase his amazing vocal range in the softer song structure that the pair have offered here. Then you can also add “Sixteenth Century Greensleeves”, the song originally composed or the B-side of the single that started it all. It most definitely has that medieval feel throughout, though in a far heavier guitar-oriented way than “The Temple of the King”. Lyrically it is referencing maidens locked in towers, tyrants on the loose, drawbridges down, being cut to the ground, crossbows in the firelight, ‘Meet me when the sun is in the western sky, the fighting must begin before another someone dies’. The bassline on this song is superb, one that I’ve always suspected was played by Blackmore rather than Gruber, mainly because if this was the version recorded for the B-side then it surely had to have been Blackmore. This is still a great song, and when you listen to it now you can hear why Blackmore thought there might be something cooking here, and maybe I need to investigate it further. “Catch the Rainbow” proves again that you can do a slower, melodic tune and still retain the integrity of the songwriting. Dio's vocals soar here in a brilliant showcasing of his amazing range, while Blackmore's guitaring appears understated on the surface, but actually drives the emotional strings of the song. Pure genius. Dio was quoted in a 1975 radio interview on this song as saying: “Catch the Rainbow” is lyrically medieval in that it’s concerning a stable boy who makes it with a lady of the court. She sneaks off to sleep on his bed of straw every night and they think it’s all going to work but as we rudely find out, it never does and they kind of go their own way, but it’s a track that I think Ritchie and I are very proud of”.
There are tracks that have leanings to Deep Purple, not really a surprise but perhaps surprising that they don’t have ENOUGH of the Deep Purple sound to really push them to being greater songs. That is also perhaps a harsh critique because in hearing Ronnie James Dio singing instead of, say, Ian Gillan, that automatically disqualifies the song from being Deep Purple-ish. However, “Self Portrait” has all of the trademarks of a Deep Purple song. The beautiful bass and drum rhythm has the same wonderful style of Purple’s best moody songs. It is nothing like what Rainbow sounded like going forward, but here on this album it is a terrific listen, it has a swaying motion about it in the way Ronnie sings the song, and the rhythm attacks it. It may not be a brilliant track in the whole scheme of things, but it works here and is underrated. “Snake Charmer” is another of the block builders of the album, the song that fills its place to get you to the next point of destination. It is of a style that would come with a few songs over the course of the next two albums. It has a great bass riff from Gruber underneath Blackmore’s solo which acts as the best part of the song. It isn’t a song that anyone would suggest is a favourite. It is an enjoyable but average track.
Elsewhere, the Elf styled blues rock becomes noticeable, as much as anywhere in the song that started this whole business of, “Black Sheep of the Family”, with Driscoll's drumming incorporating all manner of tin cans and an overinvolvement throughout, along with Soule’s keyboards through the first half of the song. Dio’s vocals are good but retain a style that comes from those early Elf days, and Ritchie’s guitar solo takes up far less time than you would expect from a man who desperately wanted to put HIS mark on this song. One still wonders what fascinated Blackmore so much about this song. It's enjoyable enough, but the style doesn't really fit the songs that they wrote after the initial decision to record this as a single. “If You Don’t Like Rock and Roll” is the most Elf-like track on this album, especially in the offering of Soule’s rockabilly blues piano tinkling throughout the song. This could easily have come straight off Elf’s final studio album “Trying to Break the Sun”, which was released just two months before this album was released.
The bookends to the whole album both marvellously performed. “Man on the Silver Mountain” is the opening track to the album, one that has grown from this small seedling as it appears here to becoming the tall redwood that towers to the heights overlooking its heavy metal roots. Here at its beginning it may only be a slow-mid-tempo track, slightly ponderous in its walk, and yet the bones of the track are untouchable. Blackmore’s rhythm riff that is the basis of the track is just superb, with that excellent rhythm support from bass and drums, which then leads to his solo riff in the bridge to the chorus, before his triumphant guitar solo in the back half of the song. This structure cannot be faulted or broken, and when played live for the next 35 years by Rainbow itself, and Dio in his own band, and even now by any band strong enough to cover the track, it is enhanced with a touch of speed and a modern heavy tone. It remains a masterful track, one of the greatest ever Album 1, Side 1, Track 1’s of all time. And at the other end of the album, the closing track is “Still I’m Sad”, a cover version of the same by The Yardbirds. But – for a reason I am still unable to fathom – this version is played as an instrumental only. For the love of Dio, WHY?! You have the greatest voice in heavy metal history IN YOUR BAND, and you decide he isn’t going to sing this song? This version sounds absolutely awesome, but how on Earth is Dio not singing it? Anyway who has heard the band’s live album “On Stage” that was released two years after this has heard this song played live with Dio singing it – and it is just incredible. This is a massive own goal when it comes to the conclusion of the album. Great song, great version, just missing the great man on vocals.

Another gentle reminder with a slight tap on your head with a sledgehammer, if you have not yet checked out the very best heavy metal podcast on the internet – that being the fabulous ‘And Volume for All’, then I insist that you do so ALMOST immediately. Quinn’s amazing and fabulously in-depth deep dive into the life and career of Ronnie James Dio is a must listen for anyone, not even metal enthusiasts. His episodes that describe this era of Elf and Rainbow are outstanding, and if you want to really be entertained while finding out about this album, I highly recommend you do so once you have finished here. It is far more enlightening and informative and fun, believe me.
I had a great friend at high school in my friend group named Pete, but that we all called Wagon, a nickname that would take some time explaining, so you’ll just have to take my word for it. Now Wagon was a huge Ritchie Blackmore fan, the biggest I’ve known. He was often claiming the Blackmore wrote every great riff ever and that all other bands were just stealing them off him, and that guitarists like Brian May weren’t original, that they were just copying Ritchie. A lot of that was stuff that we allowed to pass over our heads, but he was the one who encouraged me to listen to Deep Purple and Rainbow, all for Ritchie Blackmore. So I do have him to thank for exposing me to both of those bands. With Rainbow, it was the Joe Lynn Turner albums that I heard first though, before I eventually got to hear the first three albums that had Dio as their lead vocalist.
This debut album for me has always been eclipsed by the two that followed. Like I mentioned here earlier, this album was like a stepping stone from the band members past bands in Deep Purple and Elf, to get to the next album “Rising” where things really began to come together. And mostly because of that this had been one in those latter years of high school and the all too short time at university that was not overly recognised by me in preference of those next two albums. I liked the album, but didn’t love it. And I could get a better version of “Man on the Silver Mountain” on Dio’s live EP “Intermission” anyway.
Over subsequent years those feelings changed, no doubt the more I listened to it. This happened a lot during the 1990’s, where the change in style of most of the bands I loved actually led me to going back and just listening to their albums of the 1970’s and 1980’s. And this album was very much a part of that time for me. And through this constant rotation of albums, I came to truly appreciate songs such as “Catch the Rainbow” and “The Temple of the King”, whereas prior to this I probably hadn’t. And as a result of this the whole track list flowed together much more enjoyably, and I found my love for its content. As I said at the top, this isn’t a perfect album, but it is certainly far far better than average.
I have had my copy out again this week, in the Metal Cavern as well as at work, and it has been a pleasure once again. Blackmore’s guitar is as terrific as always – but it is Ronnie’s vocals that soar, that become the starring attraction, where although they aren't the finished project here, they are well on their way to becoming the great vocal instrument that they became.
As I‘ve mentioned, better was to come, two albums that span time itself. But as a starting point, a place where the shooting stars of Blackmore and Dio first came together, it is a more than solid beginning.